Apples far from the Tree
by gsb
Summary: A stranger appears at the front door of the Sunshine Residence with a past that shakes Ema's life to it's core. The stranger brings both happiness and pain for the family, as well as new beginnings.
1. Chapter 1

The dark atmosphere of the street did not exactly help in calming her nerves. The sky was grey with the warning of rain to come. It was early afternoon as the woman walked steadily down the street clutching a grey tote bag to her chest, as if trying to hold in her racing emotions. The walk towards the strangely named home gave her time to reflect on how she had got to this point in her life, ' _I'm honestly surprised how easy it was to find all this out'_ she thought to herself. She reflected on the pain and sadness that she had been put through, while remaining hopeful for what might be about to occur. A strong gust of wind speeds towards the woman with enough strength to catch her off-guard. Her bag fell out of her arms and landed behind her, as she turned to retrieve it a thought crosses her mind, _'perhaps I should just keep walking in this direction? Stay away and never interfere with her life?'_ However the nagging feeling within her to find out the answers to all her questions persuaded the woman to turn around. She rounded a corner and found herself on a pretty little street, even in the miserable weather the street seemed to shine and having a welcoming aura. The directions which she was given a small piece of paper from the less than intelligent woman at that less than intelligent man's office told her that the home she was looking for was still a ways down the street. _'The Sunshine Residence huh?'_ the woman laughed as she once again thought of how overly optimistic the people must be to live in a place with that sort of name. Her heart would not stop beating, she felt as if her whole body would be consumed in nerves and fear, a million questions ran through her head on whether she should take this plunge. All her life she has had to rely on her instincts. But now it was as if she had none, she was totally unsure of what she should do. As panic rose up inside of her making her sweat and breath heavy, she saw I little sign out the front of a tall, beautiful building. It was intimidating, standing over the woman like a god, yet it had such a welcoming feel, just like the rest of the street. The woman opened her bag and took out her most precious possession, she looked at it, trying to get courage from it. "I have to at least try" she whispered out loud to herself as she gave one last look to the ageing item before clutching it to her chest then storing it back in the grey tote bag.

. . .

Ema sat at the kitchen table reading a book she borrowed from the library on the history of French Patisseries. At the age of 18 she took her passion of creating desserts very seriously and hoped to make a career. The last two years of her life had brought her so many blessed things, a real family, a proper home, the realisation of her dreams and the perfect relationship with the boys she had a crush on since early high school. Ema jumped as a large thump came from the entrance hall, she walked over to the disturbance to see her father bringing home a large package, not surprising since it was nearly Christmas. "Papa" Ema said with a smile "welcome home, what's this?" Rintaro turned to Ema with a smile on his face,

"it is a present for Wataru, something he can use in the backyard with the others and on his own." Ema was excited for the coming Christmas as it would be one of the only times in the past year that her whole family would be together. Both her parents and brothers have been busy all year and some such as Hikaru and Futo had struggled to be home at all due to their work. "Ema" Rintaro called out, "I also got you something, an early Christmas present" he smiled and handed over a rectangular package walking towards the kitchen. "Thank you Papa!" Ema beamed as she opened the package. Tears, a mixture of happy and sad swelled in her eyes as she looked at the contents. She held in her hand a silver photo frame with the words _family is forever_ carved in the top. The frame held an image of Ema's birth parents holding her baby self, sitting on a couch laughing. "Looks like you were a very healthy baby" a deep voice says over Ema's shoulder. She looks up to see her eldest step brother Masaomi admiring the picture. At that moment the doorbell rings, "I'll get it" says Masaomi turning towards the door. "I'll come too" Ema smiles, bringing the photo frame with her. Once they opened the door they saw there a nervous looking woman with ash brown hair. A moment of silence passed between the brother and sister and the stranger at the door, the woman, who looked in her early twenties stared wide eyed at Ema. "May we help you?" Masaomi asked the woman, the woman shook herself out of her trance and quietly, quickly asked "ar-are you Ema Hi-hin-?" she couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth. Then she suddenly looked at the photo frame Ema was hold, a look of disgust crossing her face. Ema was too stunned by the look on the strange woman's face to reply. At that moment Ema's father came around the corner and called out from the end of the hall, "anyone want some tea?" Before either Ema or Masaomi replied the woman had turned and ran away.

. . .

The woman ran away from the scene, tears streaming down her face, from sadness, pain, anger and a small bit of happiness. She was there, the information wasn't fake, she could tell as soon as she saw her. As the woman rounded the corner she ran smack bang into someone and fell straight onto the ground. She looked up to see that she had ran into a man probably around six or seven years older than her with blonde hair. He was dressed as if he was some sort of monk, _'great a man of the cloth exactly what I want right now geez'_ she thought to herself with extreme sarcasm. "Are you ok?" he asked without sounding at all concerned "how horrible of me knocking into a lady like that. Shall I take you back to my place to clean you u-" he stopped noticing that the woman was crying "are you hurt?" he asked genuinely. He moved to help the woman up, she was too exhausted to resist, she mumbled a thank you and went to leave. The blonde man grabbed her hand "please, are you ok? I haven't hurt you have I?" he asked with concern. Laughter could be heard from a man walking towards the two people. The man laughing approached the blonde man asking "troubling girls again Kaname?" the man who arrived next to the laughing man sighed, the woman noticed straight away how much the two men looked alike. "Well Tsubaki" the blonde man started, but the woman didn't hear what the end of the sentence was as she took opportunity at the man called Kaname's distraction to run leaving the weird situation behind.

It took her an hour by foot to get back to the hotel she was staying at, she had only been in the city for a couple months but she was lucky that she was given this room by the owner of the hotel, a friend. However if she didn't find somewhere else she could afford soon she would be in serious trouble, a bartenders wage doesn't stretch too far. She collapsed onto the bed and let the sadness and disappointment overcome here. The woman cried and cried, full of so many questions. Was that Ema? Well of course it was all the evidence was there, Ema looked so much like, well her. Why was he there? He man who I never wanted to see again? What had happened to that photo Ema had? It was not right. The thought of the state of that photo made the woman cry more. She reached over to her bag and pulled out her most precious possession, the same image Ema had in her frame, however the woman's copy had more to it than the version Ema possessed.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell was that?" Tsubaki asked Kaname after he had watched the woman run off, the scene he saw had confused and intrigued him. _'She looked familiar'_ he thought to himself, he and his identical triplet shared a look at that moment, knowing that both of them have encountered her before, and recently. Kaname straightened himself, unaware of is brothers unspoken exchange, and stated "I am honestly not sure, she ran into me, crying I might add" Azusa gave the monk a stern look. "You made her cry?" he questioned,

"no I believe she was crying before we had our little incident" Kaname said while he looked towards the area which the girl had ran towards. The brothers walked together towards their home in silence, all lost in their own thoughts. When they entered the home the where met with a rather confused looking Masaomi, and the sister they all hold dearly, Ema with small tears running down her face. Ema's father stood behind her trying to comfort her "now don't worry she probably wasn't even here to see you" he cooed "she most likely was at the wrong address and got embarrassed" Ema sniffed. She looked at the photo frame in front of her "Papa you don't understand" Ema said softly. "The way she looked at the photo the look on her face, she was hurt, and angry" Ema looked up at her father, "and as soon as I saw her, I don't know I felt sad, and I want to find out who she is" Ema spoke louder "how she knew me". Miwa came to the table they were all sat at, noticing the three brothers that had just arrived home she asked "Oh, would you like some hot chocolate? I'm making it to cheer up Ema?" they all nodded. After the hot chocolate had been dished out to all Masaomi recounted the tale to his brothers. Kaname sat across for Ema and did not even bother to tease her "do you mind telling me what this woman looked like?" he asked. After Ema, Masaomi and Rintaro did their best to describe the woman Tsubaki spoke up, "we met her" he said, the others looked stunned. "Well kind of" Azusa chipped in "we saw her on the street with Kaname and she looked familiar" Ema turned to her big brother monk.

"well she was running, and crying I might add, we knocked into each other" he told his sister. Ema looked at her older brothers, her adoptive father and her stepmother, "I want to find out who she was and why she came to me" her father spoke up,

"this is not the time to go on a wild goose chase you have to focus on your studies" he said with a stern tone "plus, Christmas is so close let's not ruin it" he smiled at his daughter. Everyone saw the hurt and worry which stained Ema's face. "How about we find out for you" Azusa suggested with a smile, "YEA!" Tsubaki yelled "we are both off until after Christmas so our schedules are free". Kaname also added that he would aid in this 'wild goose chase' purely out of curiosity and love for his little sister. Ema sat at the table watching the excitement and admiring the enthusiasm of her brothers "thank you so much" she smiled at the, she looked down at the photo of her parents on the couch and smiled even brighter.

. . .

The woman ran fast and hard up the steep hill, she was trying all she could to erase the memory of that morning. She had work tonight and she would not have been able to concentrate if she kept thinking about the perfect street, with the perfect house, with the perfect little girl. "As well as her perfect god damn father" she grumbled out loud, she shook he head and kept running. After that experience of going to that house, getting knocked over and crying in the dingy hotel room, all the woman wanted to do was exercise, so she got changed and ended up running up the steepest hills in the nearby parkland area. She kept running letting all her focus pull away from the day that had been and towards the slope. However she would drift back to the image of that photo and a mixture of emotions and questions would over-come her. These thoughts became her whole focus, so much so that when the condition of the ground she was running on changed she didn't even notice. But he did notice when the now wet a slippery ground seemed to vanish beneath her feet, causing her to fall.

The woman's arms stretched out in front of her just before she made contact with the grounds sloppy, cool surface. She rolled a few metres before gravity gave her a rest, when she pulled herself up she immediately felt a harsh sting on the left side of her neck "great" she mumbled to herself. After taking a few deep breaths she began the walk back to the hotel, realising that she could not get what had happened out of her head for a while. With a sower before work on her mind the woman hummed as she made her way down the street, the sun behind her beginning to set.

. . .

The following two days brought no luck for the brothers in their search to find the mystery woman and discover her intentions. Within those two days more of the brothers had arrived home from their various responsibilities. Futo, having returned home and heard to story of the strange encounter, insisted that she must have been there for him "you wait and see" he teased "the reason she was here was for me!"

"If she was here for you then why did she ask for Ema?" Tsubaki retorted, to which the teen idol fell silent simply glaring at his older brother. Ema looked up at the brothers and spoke up, which she rarely did, "PLEASE just stop!" she said making everyone else in the room jump. "Christmas is barely two weeks away and all I want to do is have spend time as a family and that cannot happen if you keep glaring at each other." All the brothers were shocked that their sweet little sister had just raised her voice at them. "I'm sorry" she sighed "I'm just stressed about that woman, I can't get that day out of my head" her father looked up at her.

"Don't worry" he smiled "your step brothers will find everything out for you" at that moment a loud yell came from the kitchen. Everyone in the living room looked up as Azusa strode into the room with his phone in hand and a triumphal look on his face. "Sammy" he told them all with a smile holding up his phone to them,

"her name is Sammy"

. . .

Sammy let the loud buzzing sound of the hair dryer be the only thing her mind focused on, she felt refreshed. Not only because of the hot shower she had just stepped out of but the times she had the night before. As she applied some makeup and pulled her hair into a bun she smiled at the memories. Last night at the bar a group of people from a publishing company had held an event, some of which were regular customers of Sammy's even friends. It was a good, fun work night and it had got her a hefty tip, enough that she had been able to buy herself a new study guide for university. She was so close to that dream, yet so far from another. As she pulled her small black dress over herself her face fell. _'I'm a coward'_ she thought to herself briefly recounting the events of two days prior. She shook he head and thought _'I blew it already no point thinking about it_ 'she grabbed her bag and made her way towards the door, but on a last second though grabbed her precious position and tucked it into the pocket of her dress for good luck.

. . .

"Crap it's cold" complained Yusuke as he and three of his brothers walked in the lamplight of their neighbourhoods back streets. "Well you shouldn't have come if you couldn't even handle this part" Tsubaki sneered at his younger brother. "She bothered MY girlfriend I'm not just obligated to help I want to" Yusuke retorted knowing it would shut the voice actor up. The topic of Ema's choice in Yusuke as her boyfriend is still a very touchy subject in the family, however they have all come to an understanding. "You might not even be able to get in Yusuke" said Azusa "you're only eighteen". "What?!" Yusuke yelled "you don't think I look old enou-" the red-haired boy was completely cut off by a bundled scarf hitting him in the face. "There" Kaname said, minus on scarf "you're warm now" he teased "now shut up we have a job to do for our cute little sister, yes?"

The four men, who were bickering like children, rounded the corner to see a small cream coloured building covered in snow with green window panes. "Is this the place?" Yusuke asked. Azusa took out is phone and opened the social media app showing the image of one of their brothers female personas posing with the woman they were looking for. "Yes seems like it" and with that they all got a small bit nervous. They all started the short walk too _Aoise_ a classy bar at the edge of their area. However once at the door a large hand rested itself on Yusuke's chest, "ID?" the tall bouncer said with a look of anger. "u-um" Yusuke stammered "look I'm only eighteen but we just need to come in for one moment to speak to someone" he pleaded. The bouncer facial expression seemed to change in an instant and he let out a hearty laugh "sorry man I have rules to follow but you can wait out here with me near my heater while your buddies go in" he chuckled. Yusuke grudgingly accepted the bouncers offer and waited outside for his older brothers.

The inside of the bar was elegant and warm, the brothers were asked by a staff member if they wanted to be seated at a table or at the bar. Kaname looked around the bar, his eyes landed on her, this mysterious Sammy. Kaname smiled at the waiter who was tall with dark hair and tattoos, although smartly dressed. The waiter who's nametag said 'Jethro' had noticed him looking at Sammy and got a bad vibe. When Kaname asked to be seated specifically at her area he got even more suspicious, but did his job and showed the men too their seats.

Sammy was clearing some glasses from her working area when three men were seated in her area, she went on with her usual routine not looking up from the glasses "hey there, what can I get you?". "I'll have a beer" one said

"me too" said another

"and I'll have a gin with explanations" said the last.

"got it" Sammy said finishing with the glasses "two beers and a gin with expla- wait pardon sir?" she said looking up. Kaname was smirking at her though she wasn't quite sure why she recognised him. That's where it all started they recounted the time when she ran into them, "so honestly I can't believe I ran into you, I'm so sorry about all that" Sammy said handing them their drinks. The bar had been slowly getting busier but luckily for the brothers not so busy that Sammy had to leave her area. "So why were you crying?" Azusa asked. A look of panic mixed with pain appeared on Sammy's face for a brief moment "I'm sorry that's private" she said regaining her composure. Kaname prepared himself to say something witty to show that they knew more when Tsubaki spoke up "Well was it Ema then?" he blurted out. _'fucking. Idiot'_ Kaname thought to himself. Sammy's mind was racing with questions _'how do they? Do they? Why?'_ she looked at the men wide eyed "who are you and what do you want?" she said anger rising in her voice, bringing a panging feeling of familiarity to the brothers. "Look Ema is our sister and she just wants to know what you wanted from here" Azusa said trying to defuse the situation. Sammy looked up at the clock it was already past 11. "I'm done for the day goodbye. Never come here again" she said as she look of her apron and threw it to the waiter standing metres away. She came from the side gap of the bar to leave and head for the door when Kaname grabbed her arm "tell us why you were at our home" he said sternly. Sammy glared at him and wiggled from his grip storming from the little bar. "you should leave sir" said Jethro a stern look on his face. None of the brothers felt like picking a fight plus they knew Yusuke must be getting impatient by now so they moved to leave. As he got up from his seat Kaname noticed something on the ground, and once he picked it up he knew he would be able to get this woman to talk.

. . .

While the brothers were getting closer and closer to discovering her secret, Sammy found a very different surprise on her doorstep. An eviction notice.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day at the Sunshine Residence the brother told the rest of the family that was present. "Ok" Ema said in a melancholy tone as she got up and left the table. Everyone was worried about Ema, they knew she was upset about not knowing what the woman wanted. "Well what do we do now?" Tsubaki asked, none of the brothers had any answers so they eventually moved on with their days separately.

Kaname knew what he would have to do to answer all the questions Ema had, but first he had some questions of his own. He didn't tell his siblings what he found the previous night because he knew it would probably result in heart break. Kaname understood that the first person he needed to show his little discovery to be Ema's father as he would be able to explain it. Kaname made his way to his step father's office within the house and knocked on the door. A muffled "come in" was heard and Kaname walked into the office. "Ah Kaname perfect timing, I could use your advice" Rintaro smiled. "Please give me your opinion on this" he said handing Kaname a black jewellery box "it's for your mother's Christmas gift" he said as Kaname opened it. Inside the box was a simple rose gold anklet with a tear shaped diamond charm. Kaname smiled at his stepfather "you've chosen well it defiantly suits her taste" he said returning the jewellery box to Rintaro.

"I'm glad to hear that" Rintaro said "now what was it you wanted?" Kaname's expression turned suddenly serious. "I'm going to show you something I've come across and I want you to explain it to me" Kaname stated.

"This sounds serious" Rintaro said with the same seriousness,

"it is" Kaname said placing the item he found the previous night down on his stepfathers office desk. The man's face fell "Oh my god" he whispered, his expression suddenly turning to one of guilt and sadness.

. . .

Sammy leaned against the wall of her friend's house with tears running down her cheeks "want some scrambled eggs?" Jethro yelled from the kitchen in his strange half Japanese half Australian accent. "Yes please" she called back _'his Australian side sure comes out more when he's not at work'_ she thought. She went into the kitchen to see her closest friend cooking her some breakfast only in his grey track suit pants, trakies as he calls them. "Are you always this shirtless at home?" Sammy joked as she moved next to him smelling the delicious breakfast "feel free to join me if you want" Jethro said with a smirk. Sammy laughed and pushed his shoulder "thank you for letting me stay with you Jethro"

"you know I'm always going to help you" Jethro said quietly. The two friends ate together making jokes the whole time. Jethro was worried about Sammy, with getting evicted and bothered by a group of guys the in the same night. Sammy had asked him not to ask, so he wasn't going too but he suspected it was something to do with the whole 'situation' that she told him about.

They both got ready and set out on their way to the bar for the lunch time service, walking side by side their differing appearances were clear. Where Sammy had cool toned black hair which if let down would fall quite far down her back and bright brown eyes, Jethro had bright auburn hair scruffy and perfectly messy to accompany his dark blue eyes. The Jethro's parents were Australian but moved between Japan and Australia often during his childhood resulting in a strange accent. He was also very tall, even in comparison, Sammy was not short but even she looked small next to her friend. Jethro had to work lunch and night that day, however Sammy was lucky to be given the night off. As they approached the bar they saw a blonde man leaning against the wall smiling at them, Sammy's stomach turned. "What the fuck do you want?" Jethro said stepping in front of Sammy. Sammy held her friends arm "Jethro stop" she said in a hushed tone "just go inside I'll be there in a minute, I-I need to deal with this on my own." Jethro turned to face her "no I can't do that I'm worried about you!" he said "after the way he upset you last night and then you getting evicted it's too much" _'she's been evicted?'_ Kaname thought. Sammy looked at him and said "Jethro please trust me with this." The two held eye contact for what felt like hours, but eventually Jethro looked down "if something happens come get me" he said and walked into the bar glaring daggers at Kaname. Once that was over Kaname turned to Sammy, she was staring at him blankly showing little emotion while slightly intimidating Kaname. He figured it would be best to put it bluntly "look after you're shift tonight come to our house and talk this out" "why the hell should I?" Sammy said

"well you dropped this" Kaname said as he handed over something to Sammy. As soon as she took it her eyes started to water "wait what" she mumbled "how do you have this? And-and why is it just a photo copy where's the real photograph?!" she asked angrily.

"you dropped it last night" Kaname explained "and the good copy is at home, don't worry Ema hasn't seen it yet" at that Sammy looked up at him.

"you're blackmailing me to come to your home and talk about this?" she asked still angry.

"yes, Rintaro thought it was bes-"

"RINTARO" Sammy yelled "well then I guess it's all sorted thank the god and havens above for him" she said sarcastically. _'Ok well she doesn't like Rintaro'_ Kaname thought "look just come please just meet Ema and talk about this" he said in a kind tone.

"Ok" Sammy said drying tears from her eyes "I'll come, but if I want to leave I will"

. . .

In the staff room of the bar Sammy began to take off her apron as her shift had finished, she sighed and was glad that she didn't mess up too much today. "Do you want me to walk you, I have a break" Jethro asked, Sammy looked up at him and smiled, grateful for Jethro and his help in the last few days and his support over the years. "Yes please, but just part of the way" she said then she ran up to him and hugged him around the neck. He was quite tall so she had to jump a bit, neither cared since they were used to hugging each other. "I'm so scared" she whispered,

"it's ok" he whispered back "I'll only be a phone call away." They pulled away from each other after a few minutes not letting go of each other's hands, their faces so close they could nearly be kissing. The two people who were constantly having these moments of nearly looked into each other's eyes in silence for a moment before Jethro spoke in a harsh whisper. "Samantha I-" but he was cut off by her turning away, "we need to get going" she said. Sammy grabbed her bag as she thought to herself _'I have too much to deal with today, I can figure this out another day, well we can'_ then they both left the bar in silence.

As the two walked down the street towards the Sunshine Residence neither spoke a word _'that was stupid'_ Jethro thought _'she has too much to deal with already'_ as they turned the corner arriving at where they would be parting ways Sammy grabbed onto Jethro's arm. "I'm just going to disappoint everyone" she whimpered tears starting to fall from her eyes "I'm not good enough I've never been" at this Jethro turned to her. He grabbed her shoulders "listen to me Sammy!" he said loudly, "you are worth the world never doubt that" a tear fell down the man's face, he had been feeling pain through her pain and self-doubt and he couldn't take it anymore. "And even if you aren't enough for her, for him who cares?" he said slightly raising his voice "no matter what I'll be here for you" at this Sammy's whole facial expression became un-readable. _'I shouldn't have said anything'_ Jethro thought _'I've pissed her off'_ but that thought completely left his mind when Sammy jumped into his arms. "I'm done holding back from you" Sammy whispered before laying a kiss on her best friend of over five years mouth.

They stayed like that, in each other's arms enjoying the long overjoy kiss for nearly ten minutes with barley any breaks occurring. Eventually they broke apart smiling, they didn't need to speak, only communicate through eye contact. Sammy eventually made the rest of her way to the Sunshine Residence to face the people who lived there and Jethro returned to the bar. In the staff room he sat smiling, his co-worker Daniel looked at him with a puzzled expression "why are you so happy?" he asked. Then his face lit up with realization "you and Sammy?" he teased, Jethro just smiled "about time" Daniel said "the sexual tension between you two was getting unbearable for the rest of us! Ha-ha good on you mate."

. . .

"It's definitely a bright interior" Sammy remarked as she removed her shoes at the entry way of the Sunshine Residence. "Our mother is a designer she has a good eye for colours that create beauty" Kaname stated, he had no idea how to handle this girl. Sure he knew more than is brothers, but only what Rintaro had told him.

Kaname lead Sammy into the living room, sitting on the sofa was Tsubaki, Azusa, and Miwa holding the hands of her husband who was staring at the floor. Yusuke sat beside Ema, who looked a mixture of nervous and determined, she set eyes on Sammy and refused to look away, using all the courage she could muster. Kaname lead Sammy to in front of the couch and then walked away from her to join his brothers, exclaiming "well go ahead" he winked at the nervous Sammy "explain". Sammy shot him a glare "that's not fair" she said "you just blackmail me into coming here then put me on the spot like that"

"well how about I do some explaining" Rintaro spoke up. Ema looked wide eyed at her father,

"Papa?" she questioned "you know about all this? Her?"

"yes I do" he said "and its time I told you the truth he said raising his head looking at his daughter "and I'm sorry" before Rintaro could continue he was interrupted.

"Like hell you're getting the first word in you bastard" Sammy yelled, at this the man raised his head for the first time to look at the girl in his living room. "It's strange, how much you act like your mother yet look like your father" he said in a melancholy tone.

"don't you dare talk about me like you could know anything about me" Sammy said in a harsh tone.

"PLEASE" Ema yelled, "JUST STOP! Please just explain what's going on to me one of you!" she said small tears running down her face _'why am I so upset?'_ she thought to herself. Sammy looked at the girl with tears running down her face and she knew that she couldn't hide who she was anymore. "I'll explain but first" Sammy turned to Kaname "give me back my photo" Kaname nodded seeming slightly impressed by her suddenly intimidating exterior and handed her the photograph. Sammy hugged it to her chest like a child hugs a beloved toy. Then she looked Ema dead in the eye and handed over the image. Ema gasped "w-what? Oh my god" the image she was looking at was identical to the one she had framed of her and her birth parents. However this image was larger, showing that Ema's version had been cropped. This version had the left side of the sofa showing, where in which there was a little girl, perhaps about four years old, with cool toned black hair, matching Ema's father and bright brown eyes which matched Ema's and her mother's, holding a grey tabby cat smiling to the camera.

"My name is Samantha Kieron" Ema said in a stern voice, however tears of mixed emotions were clearly forming in her eyes "nice to meet you Ema, I'm your sister."


	4. Chapter 4

The whole room was dead quiet it would have appeared to anyone watching that it was a still image if not for the dust moving in the ray of sunlight coming from the gap in the curtains. "Y-you can't be" Ema said in a hushed voice, breaking the silence. The brunette looked over to her father who held his head in his hands. Sammy was taken back by her saying that she couldn't be her sister, she expected her to at least believe it. "I mean how could you be my sister and I have absolutely no knowledge about you?" Ema questioned confusion clear on her face.

"Can I please sit down" Sammy said nervously suddenly feeling very alone in the world. Azusa nodded and went to get a seat from the dining room table. When he returned Sammy mumbled a thank you and moved to sit down, however her nerves got a hold of her and she ended up missing half the seat and falling to the ground. Rintaro, since he was the closest, moved to go help her up "don't touch me" Sammy snapped "I can do it myself" and Rintaro moved to sit back with his wife, hurt evident on his face. _'God what's wrong with me'_ Sammy thought to herself _'I need to calm down.'_

"Samantha" Ema said, this sparked Sammy's attention, "you were going to explain?" Ema said trying to sound cheerful. _'Why does she hate Papa so much?'_ Ema wondered. "Ok yes I will" Sammy replied also trying to sound cheerful. "When I was nearly four years old, you were born" Sammy explained, Ema was clearly glued to her every word as she nodded her head for Sammy to continue. "We all loved you so much, but soon after our parents were in an accident and passed away."

"Why weren't we with them when it happened?" Ema asked,

"I was babysitting you" Rintaro said.

"Yea, you were weren't you" Sammy said I a melancholy tone, "Anyway both our parents had no remaining relatives. So when it came to what to do with us well…" Sammy trailed off. "He" Sammy used her head to gesture to Rintaro "took you in but left me to go into the ever reliable foster home system" Ema gasped and her brothers looked confused, excluding Kaname who kept an indifferent expression upon his face. "Papa why?" Ema gasped looking at her adoptive father unsure of how she should be feeling towards him at this point. Rintaro looked at Ema, sadness filling his eyes, "Ema I had no choice I-" he was cut off by Sammy standing up abruptly.

"Why?!" she said turning to Rintaro "Why did you leave me like that?! The system I was put into wasn't exactly fun, in fact it was horrible! Why did you leave me behind?!" she questioned as tears began to fall down her face. "AND DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME?!" she began to yell "how come I didn't get to stay with my only real family" she said pointing at Ema "all I ever wanted was family but I never got to why did I have to get left behind!" Sammy fell onto her knees at this and broke down crying. "All I wanted was family" Sammy said as she began to shiver.

"Samantha" Rintaro said moving to her "please let me explain" he reached out his hand to comfort her. When his hand reached her shoulder she flinched, but didn't move away. "You need to understand, leaving you like that was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make." Sammy didn't reply, she just quietly sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I could only afford to look after one of you, they wouldn't let me take both" Rintaro explained. "I was given the advice by someone I really trusted that I should just take on Ema, that if I ever wanted to get you two back together it would be easier that way." Both Sammy and Ema gave the man a puzzled look. "Well babies get adopted more often that four year olds, so once I managed to get my finances sorted I would be able to come get you Sammy but…" Rintaro paused to let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. "It took a bit longer than I thought it would" Rintaro muttered in a tone thick with guilt.

Everyone in the room flinched slightly when Sammy let out a short laugh, filled with anger and hurt "it took a while did it?" she questioned in a sing song voice getting to her feet and moving away from the man. "That's the fucking underestimate of the decade" Sammy looked around the room at the family inside then turned her head to Rintaro "actually give it two more years and it will be the biggest of two decades" she said letting out another laugh.

"Samantha please" Rintaro said standing up "let me explain" Samantha looked at him, she didn't say any words she simply stood there looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

Rintaro took that as a go ahead and began to explain, "I went back to get you but when I did you were twelve years old and…" Rintaro trailed off not sure how to explain.

"I ran away" Sammy said matter-of-factly "if I was twelve that could have been in the time I was missing."

"Yes it was" Rintaro replied "they said they would tell me if you were found but they never called so I wasn't able to adopt you but I did try!"

"Not very hard!" Sammy stated "I was only gone for two weeks before I was caught! You COULD have come back to see if I was back"

"I know" Rintaro said softly "but I didn't realise that till much later, till after you were no longer adoptable."

"Ok fine" Sammy said turning away "but what I don't understand is why you never told my sister, my only living relative that I even existed!" at this Ema got up and walked over to the father she's looked up to her whole life with a hurt expression. "I'd like to know this too" she simply stated.

Rintaro turned to Ema hoping she would understand, "if something ever happened that meant you would never be able to meet Samantha, like I thought had happened, I didn't want you to be sad about it" he said looking at Ema while eyes were filling with tears.

"Papa…" Ema said quietly.

"Look I don't expect any of you to ever forgive me but I um I" Rintaro struggled with his words, the guilt he had been harbouring for years becoming too much for him to handle. _'I can't handle this'_ he thought _'fucked up their relationship I can barely breath'_ however his panic subsided slightly when he felt a familiar hand grasp his from behind. "Please" Miwa said bowing her head "forgive my foolish husband, we will do whatever we can to heal these wounds." She gave her husband a look which seemed to say 'your vices are my vices' Rintaro smiled back, grateful for his wife's understanding and compassion.

"I understand Papa, how hard this must be for you" Ema said softly "it's hard for me too, but we can pull ourselves back up again, I do forgive you" Ema said smiling at him. The two embraced in a hug, and the brothers that were in the room smiled, glad that their family wasn't going to fall apart. "I'm so glad this is all sorted" Yusuke said as he walked up to Ema and put his hand on his shoulder. The whole room seemed to feel warmer once Ema said that she would forgive Rintaro, but no one noticed Sammy shrinking into the background until she had turned around and began to leave.

 _'_ _I'm so dumb for wanting something I could never have'_ she thought to herself not knowing what to do next. "Hey!" Sammy nearly jumped a metre into the air when Kaname's hand landed on her shoulder out of nowhere "where do you think you're going?" he questioned "we haven't sorted this out." At that moment the rest of the family noticed that Sammy had been leaving.

"Wait please don't go" Ema said feeling guilty for forgetting that her sister was even there,

"Yes please" Rintaro added "we should make this right." Samantha stood there looking at the man she's been angry at most her life, the sister she never got to know and the family they had created. And she cursed herself for feeling as jealous as she did. "Ok" she said quietly "I'll stay but Rintaro" Rintaro looked at her "I'm not forgiving you, not yet, this is going to take time for me I need you to understand that" she looked at Ema "both of you."

They all nodded at each other, once they were all seated the present brothers took the opportunity to introduce themselves properly. "Well it's nice to meet you all" Sammy said politely. "I should properly introduce myself properly, I'm Samantha, I'm a bartender and I'm studying at university to become a teacher."

"Nice to finally meet you" Ema smiled. "So how are we going to go about this?" Ema asked "getting to know each other that is"

"I have no idea" Sammy said with a nervous laugh. At that moment Kaname stood and faced everyone in the room "I propose something, a living situation"

"Pardon?" Sammy asked confused.

"Well haven't you recently been evicted?" Kaname asked,

"Oh my goodness then you must stay with us this is perfect!" Miwa exclaimed clapping her hands together. Sammy just stared wide eyed around the room not sure what to say.

"I think that would be really nice" Ema smiled at her while all the present brothers smiled at her welcomely. "I-I mean I guess I could" Sammy stammered _'I'd probably a bad idea for me to keep living with Jethro since we are probably… that would be too fast, maybe I should just do it.'_

"It's settled then" Miwa said with a smile, "do you have anyone you need to call to get your things sorted?"

"Yes" Sammy replied "I'll call Jethro he's my" Sammy paused "um he's my I don't know haha" Sammy said blushing. "Well you are going to have to fill me in on that please" Ema said with a smile, and Sammy awkwardly smiled back.

"It's going to be strange" Sammy said looking around the room "I haven't really lived somewhere with this many people in it before."

Tsubaki giggled making Sammy's eyes widen "well you are in for quite the surprise" he teased.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ok so explain this to me one more time" Jethro said in slightly shaky tone as his watched Sammy packing here things that Saturday morning, "you're about to go live with a group of guys?" Sammy turned to look him letting out a sigh "well no I'm going to live with my sister who happens to have a four step brothers, they aren't my family, but this is my only chance to be anywhere close to one."

Jethro let out a small chuckle underlined with hurt, "look I understand that you want a family but" he paused letting his shoulders slump "I just don't know why I'm worried"

"I don't understand how you're still worried you've had a week to get used to the idea, well if you're worried" Sammy said. "Come help me get all my stuff moved in you can suss the place out, and you know" Sammy blushed "let them know about you." Sammy looked up at Jethro with blush gracing her cheeks "Jethro what are we?" she questioned. "We've been acting like a couple, are we one?" Sammy slumped down on the floor, terrified of the answer she might receive. Ever since the kiss last week they spent more time together the way they both have wanted to for so long. But no labels have been placed on it, and Sammy, for the first time, wanted it to be labelled.

"Samantha" Jethro said softly moving over to her and grasping her hands "I was scared to label it, in the time we've known each other neither of us have been in a proper relationship, we've never committed to other people." He smiled at her "but now I want to, but I was scared that you wouldn't want too." Sammy looked up at him and then burst into laughter.

"We're both idiots" Sammy laughed pulling Jethro into a quick kiss "Be my boyfriend" she said, more as a statement than a question. "Well if you insist" Jethro said as he placed his hand around the back of her neck kissing her for what felt like the millionth time in a week.

. . .

Once the newly labelled couple arrived at the Sunshine Residence Jethro made the face of someone who was eating a sour berry. "You were right it is sickly sweet looking" they both laughed as they rang the doorbell. A man Sammy had not seen before opened the door and greeted the couple with a gentle smile "Samantha I presume?"

"Yes" Sammy replied with a nod "and this is Jethro"

"the tall blonde man smiled at Jethro, "I'm Ukyo, nice to meet you both." Sammy eyed the apron Ukyo was wearing "are you a cook?" Ukyo eyes lit up as he laughed at Sammy's question,

"I guess you could say that" he smiled "it is my responsibility in the house but I'm actually a lawyer" he said while motioning for them to enter the household. _'What do they need a lawyer who cooks for?'_ Sammy thought to herself suddenly becoming nervous. Once they had removed there shoes and placed Sammy's bags in the hallway Ema ran up to them smiling. "Hello" she said to Sammy slightly awkwardly but sill with joy in her voice.

"Hello" Sammy replied in the same fashion, the Ema's eyes fell to Jethro at which she gave Sammy a confused look. "This is Jethro" Sammy said grasping his hand, both to show what he meant to her and because she was in desperate need of his support. "Hello" Jethro said to Ema "so nice to finally meet you"

Ema looked at Jethro and gave her biggest smile "nice to meet you, thank you for looking after my big sister." At this the two sisters looked at each other with looks of happiness and sadness. Happiness for finally being able to know each other and sadness for being kept apart so long.

They all moved into the living room where they were greeted by Yusuke, Kaname, Miwa and another man that Sammy didn't know. "Hello Samantha" Miwa said pulling Sammy into a hug, Sammy tried really hard to not look awkward. Another hello rang from the stairs as Masaomi descended holding a basket of laundry, "nice to finally meet you properly." Sammy's eyes lit up with recognition,

"Oh!" she said "sorry for just running off that time" a warm smile spread across Masaomi face "don't let it bother you" he replied "I'm Masaomi the eldest brother." A look of confusion overtook Sammy's face as she did some mental calculations, she turned to Ema "um Ema, you have five step brothers?" she questioned "that must be a handful."

Jethro stood behind Sammy wrapping his arms around his shoulders suddenly feeling territorial. None of the present brothers knew what to say until Kaname started to chuckle "well who of our family have you met?"

"Well you" Sammy said thinking, "Yusuke, those twins, Rintaro, Miwa and now Masaomi, it's a large family." This made Kaname chuckle more, "and me might I add" said Ukyo. Sammy turned to him resulting in Jeetho's arms to fall from her, "oh my god I'm sorry I didn't even make that connection" she apologised.

Ukyo smiled, "don't worry it's fine" Sammy nodded at him in thanking him for forgiving her, then she turned back to Ema. "Wow six of them it must be a busy house" Sammy said with an awkward smile. At this Yusuke broke out into full laughter "hey stop" Ema said slapping him lightly on the shoulder while trying to hold back her own laughter.

"Hey what's so funny" Jethro asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Well…" Ema said with a slight smile "there's more than six of them."

. . .

"I'll ring you when I get off ok" Jethro told Sammy with a nervous look in his eye standing outside the residence "Sammy I don't like this" before she could argue he continued "thirteen guys, it freaks me out." Sammy grabbed the collar of her boyfriend's grey shirt, and pulled his face towards hers "don't sweat it ok, you know I need to be here and you need to get to work Mr worry-wort" they both smiled as they shared a quick kiss before Jethro gave her one more worrying look. "I'll call you ok?" he said still with concern his voice.

"Please do" Sammy said with a smile, as she returned inside, where Ema was waiting to show Sammy her new room. Once inside they sat next to each other on the bed. It was Sammy that spoke up first, "I'm really glad to get the chance to know you"

Ema smiled back at her long estranged sister "me too" they smiled at each other. Once they began to unpack Sammy's things it was not long before the topic of boys came about. "So Jethro seems nice, how long have you been dating?"

"Aha not very long" Sammy laughed "how about you?" she questioned.

"Well for a while now" Ema replied "Yusuke and I have been going steady"

"wow your step brother!" Sammy said surprised "there must have been some awkward family dinners after you went public" at this Ema blushed,

"you have no idea" she said quietly.

"What aren't you telling me?" Sammy questioned.

. . .

The sisters sat in silence after Ema finished recounting her experiences with her step brothers up until she chose Yusuke. Eventually it was Sammy who spoke up "Em" she said quietly but firmly "you realise the way they acted wasn't ok, that it was really shitty, you realise that right?" Ema nodded with a slight smile taking in what her sister had said while being pleased that she had already given her a nickname. "Please don't say anything" Ema said hoping to avoid any more family drama. Sammy looked at her with a smile "ok, but if I see any of that type of behaviour I will call them out on it"

"haha ok" Ema chuckled. The sisters hugged for the first time glad to finally have each other in their lives. The moment was interrupted by a young voice ringing down from the lower floor, "DDDIIINNNEEERRR!"

Sammy looked at Ema with wide eyes "what the hell was that?!" Ema laughed at her sister's shock,

"that was Wataru"

. . .

After a more than eventful dinner, at which Sammy managed to meet the rest of the brothers bar two, everyone gathered in the lounge area to watch some TV, Ukyo had made everyone hot chocolate. The conversation was light and casual, calming, despite this Sammy still didn't feel quite as comfortable as Ema wished she was. Ema loved her sister she knew that, even with how early in their relationship it was. She loved her brothers as well and she just wanted them to love Sammy too. _'I must give it time'_ she thought to herself.

As the sound of the front door opening could be heard "Um" Sammy spoke up, all eyes suddenly rested on her, "I've been meaning to ask for a while but how did you guys find me in the first place? And where I worked?"

A chuckle came from Kaname "you seem suddenly nervous how cute" he received nothing but a stare from the target of his chuckles.

"Well it's simple luck really" Azusa said "you see we found you through-"

"ME" Azusa was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice from the doorway, standing behind Sammy was a woman in a red dress and boots. "Hikaru!" Sammy yelled joy lighting up her face "girl what are you doing here?!" she asked as she went up and hugged her friend.

"Ah well" Hikaru said hugging Sammy back "I guess my secret's out"

"what secret?" Sammy questioned after the hug ended and she had sat back down.

"first promise not to spread it anywhere" Hikaru scolded wagging her finger at Sammy, to which she nodded. "Well first of all the found you through the photo I had posted recently of us"

"ohh ok that does make sense" Sammy said "but why does that have to be a secret?" all eyes seemed to yet again be on Sammy at this moment. _'Oh no I wonder how she's going to take this'_ Ema thought to herself trying to supress a giggle, for some reason she found this situation very amusing. "Ok honey hold on to your horses" Hikaru laughed "but I happen to be one of you sisters step brothers."

Sammy's face was one of shock and confusion, _'wait so Hikaru, the Hikaru who is one of my favourite customers at the bar, the one more that one of my male co-workers have a crush on. Is a man?'_ she thought to herself. "Holy shit dude." Was all Sammy could manage to say.

. . .

Sammy stepped outside for some, in her opinion, well deserved fresh air. "So" a deep voice questioned from behind her "how do you like being part of the family?" Sammy looked up to see Kaname leaning against the wall. "Aha well I'm not too sure yet, it's more people than I expected" Sammy said her voice strained with exhaustion.

"That doesn't surprise me" Kaname replied "I hope you like it her, plus if you need some comfort you can always come to me" he said turning to her.

Sammy looked up at him "sorry" she said with a smile "I'm not religious so I don't need help with any prayers."

"I wasn't talking about prayers" Kaname said slowly his voice thick with something Sammy tried not to recognise. "HEY!" a voice called from the door "you two come inside Ukyo made candy apples!" Hikaru called, a huge smile came across Sammy's features as she went inside excited about the sweet treat. Kaname however just stood there, leaning against the wall, not quite sure what to do with himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Sweat dripped down Sammy's face as she ran up her favourite hill. The sun was just beginning to rise over the city and her breath danced as a cloud in front of her while she tried to regain her breath. As she began her decent down the hill her mind went to the night before.

She wasn't quite sure about how she felt about all the brothers yet. Wataru was sweet though intense, Futo seemed kind of an asshole but she hoped that was just some teenage angst. Yusuke while kind of childish appeared determined and he did care for her sister. Lori was kind to her from the very beginning, welcoming her at dinner with a flower, but Sammy felt as if he held a sadness. Louis was one of the most adorable and soft mannered people she ever met. The triplets were all nice, Sammy already knew she had a friend in Azusa; they had talked about things like history and art for so long the previous night. Sammy saw Tsubaki as someone caught between being innocent and mature while Natsume seemed closed off somehow, perhaps he disliked a newcomer. Hikaru was nothing less than a shock, her friend and good customer of years a man! She had shared such personal information with her in the past not knowing she was a 'he'. Masaomi and Ukyo are both lovely and nice, it struck her odd that they were still single at their age. There was still one brother that she hadn't met yet but he was supposed to arrive to the Sunshine Residence sometime today. _'Then there's Kaname'_ Sammy thought to herself _'what was with him last night? He's such a…. creep.'_

Sammy shook the thoughts out of her head as she turned down the street leading to her new how, her eyes on the ground as she ran. Before she knew it someone had grabbed her shoulders. "Woah woah" a voice said. Sammy looked up, "you were about to run yourself into a wall, you ok?" the concerned voice asked. "Subaru" Sammy said with a smile, happy to see a friend "what are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

Subaru smiled back at his friend, "well actually this is where I live" he said pointing to the house.

"Wait what? You're one of Ema's step brothers?" Sammy asked with surprise.

"y-yea" Subaru replied "how do you know Ema?" his face suddenly lit up with recognition "wait are you her sister?"

"Yes. Wow. I can't believe this"

"well well" Hikaru said from the door standing with Futo, frightening the pair "you already seem to know each other"

Sammy smiled, "we're gym buddies at uni, well when he gets sick of the overload of testosterone from his team mates." She said punching Subaru lightly on the arm as blush spread across his cheeks. A giggle came from Futo "well I've never seen Subaru so comfortable around a girl"

"he could never be shy with me" Sammy replied with a laugh "he's seen at my worst and at my sweatiest"

"Y-yea" Subaru said pushing out his chest trying to look confident as Sammy moved inside the house calling out "I'm gonna go ring Jethro again" at this Subaru's face fell _'he must be busy he hasn't rang me yet'_ Sammy thought. After more laughter from his brothers Subaru followed her, "at her sweatiest aye?" questioned Futo with a sly giggle.

. . .

"Yeah babe don't worry I'll pop by tomorrow to see you ok?" Jethro said through the phone a week and a half after Sammy has moved in. "I haven't seen you at all outside of work lately and you're barley picking up your phone lately" Sammy whined.

"Look I'm sorry ok" Jethro said sounding stressed "I have to go" _beep beep beep._ Sammy stood there confused a million thoughts running through her head. _'At least I'll get to see him tomorrow'_ Sammy thought, her mind easing and her lips forming a smile.

. . .

Something was of about the energy of the bedroom the couple sat in, neither mentioned it as if they were trying their best to ignore it. "So yeah now I know all of them" Sammy smiled.

"Yeah cool" Jethro replied with an awkward smile as silence flew once again between the two. Frustration built within Sammy and she spoke up, "look Jethro what the hell is going on? Why are you acting so-" she was silence by her boyfriend pulling her into a hug. Sammy, for a rare moment, was speechless as Jethro lightly gripped the tip of her chin pulling her into a kiss.

After the two finally pulled away Jethro seemed to be holding on to Sammy as if she was about to turn to sand and slip away. _'What is going on? Why is he being so… serious?'_ Sammy thought. "You know I love you right?" Jethro suddenly said in a hushed tone making Sammy's cheeks turned a slight pink. "Yes Jethro. I Know" she replied.

"Sammy I need you to know that-" Jethro was interrupted by the ringing of Sammy's phone.

"oh sorry one sec" Sammy said picking up the phone "hello? Oh Futo"

"we have been calling you for dinner for the last ten minutes, I. Am. Starving. If you're not down here in seconds I will eat your share." Yelled Futo before hanging up the phone.

"Um I have to go" Sammy said

"yeah it's ok I heard" Jethro said with a laugh "I have to get going anyway." As they left the room the couple ran into Subaru dawned in a dark grey suit. "oh hey what's with the suit?" Sammy questioned as they all moved towards the stairs, Subaru eyeing off Jethro. "Well I have dinner with the team tonight" Subaru replied rushing ahead.

"oh ok bye" Sammy said confused.

. . .

Before long Christmas had arrived to the Sunshine Residence. The family involved themselves in the usual Christmas activities. After Wataru had opened his presents from Santa the family relaxed looking back at old photos. This was something Ema enjoyed greatly, however today, she seemed less enthusiastic. "Ema?" Yusuke asked "are you ok?"

"Oh" Ema replied looking up, "don't worry I'm fine, just tired sorry."

"Ok, as long as that's all it is" Yusuke said, the concerned expression on his face not shifting.

"If you're tired you should rest" Masaomi said sweetly to Ema.

"I'll make sure I wake you before lunch ok" Sammy said smiling.

"Ok, I'll do that" Ema's said with a soft smile as she rose from the sofa and left for the comfort of her own bed.

A few hours passed and Sammy went to wake Ema, before knocking on the door she swore she could hear a strange noise. "Ema you ok?" she asked Sammy then heard rustling, then Ema opened the door. Her hair was a mess, and her makeup had run, "were you crying?" Sammy asked.

"No" Ema replied softly "I just didn't wash my face before I slept."

"Hm ok" Sammy said, not quite sure if she believed her sister. "Let's get you cleaned up" Sammy said, Ema sat on the bed as Sammy retrieved some makeup wipes and a hairbrush. The sisters, having barley known each other, seemed to fall into perfect sync as soon as one had to care for the other. Sammy gently removed the smeared makeup from Ema's face, then brushing her hair and braiding it into a simple plait. "Not quite as skilfully done as Louis but it'll do" Sammy remarked getting a slight chuckle from her younger sister. Sammy then applied a soothing moisturiser to Ema's face before redoing her makeup. Once finished Ema looked in the mirror and for the first time that day, she smiled.

Ema took a small package out of her dresser, "here" she said handing it to Sammy "I wanted to give this to you while we were alone."

"But my present for you is still downstairs" Sammy said taking the small package.

"It's ok" Ema said with a smile as she sat down next to Sammy "I wanted to give this to you now."

Sammy opened the small packed to find a small, dainty necklace. A thin silver chain with a small, green, teardrop shaped gem attached to it. "I noticed you don't ever wear jewellery" Ema said "and when I was helping you unpack I also noticed you didn't have any; so I thought I would start your collection."

Sammy looked up at her little sister with tears in her eyes "thank you so much Ema."

. . .

The day after Christmas Sammy practically skipped down the street, a green gem bouncing on the nape of her neck as she did. The gift in her arms was labelled "Jethro" as the couple had organised to exchange gifts that afternoon. After a few hours Sammy felt as if the time that Jethro and she had spent together was amazing. They laughed, exchanged gifts, ate, and danced. It felt right to her; she was content.

"I'm engaged to someone else."

Those were the words that shattered Sammy's illusion.

"Wait What?" Sammy said with a nervous laugh.

"Her name is Abigail, she's back in Australia, and in five weeks I'm going back so we can get married." Jethro said with his head down. "We've been together since early high school and have been long distance since I came here five years ago." Sammy sat in silence for a long time, trying, inside her own mind to comprehend what her love had just told her.

"You've been with her for a long time" Sammy said in a hushed, angry tone "we've been friends for five years, you let me be your girlfriend, you told me you loved me. This just doesn't make sense." Sammy looked at him "you're lying aren't you? Otherwise how would I have not known about her! This isn't funny Jethro!" Sammy's voice had risen till she was near yelling.

"It's not as hard as you think" Jethro said "to keep separate lives in separate countries… well separate."

"so what? You're leaving?" Sammy asked fury in her voice.

"no I think you should be the one to leave right now" Jethro said showing no signs of emotions "I made a commitment and it's about time I stick to it."

"Jethro" Sammy whispered;

"GOODBYE SAMMY" Jethro yelled in a harsh tone. Sammy held back tears as she walked out the door of the apartment of which she entered so happy a couple hours before. As soon as the door shut behind her she fell to her knees, sobbing hysterically.

Inside the apartment Jethro could her Sammy's sobs, he slowly placed his head in his hands. It wasn't until Sammy stopped sobbing and left, that he broke down into sobs himself.


End file.
